The core part of the new Kspace experience is a real-time gaming environment which takes visitors back in time to a mystery place or ‘scene’ in Australia’s history.

An important part of the Kspace redevelopment process has been selecting the first set of historical scenes that will feature in Kspace. In order to do this the Kspace team consulted widely with other Museum staff, holding a number of workshops to determine the types of scenes they thought should be represented.

In this initial ideas-gathering stage, the main criterion for possible scene selection was essentially that they had to be in some way connected to Australian history. Unsurprisingly, the list of potential scenes at the end of this process was extensive, covering many of the nation’s most significant events, places and people.

The next stage of the process required narrowing this list down by assessing the scenes against a more specific set of criteria, including:

whether it connected with the Museum’s collections, exhibitions and education programs;

and whether it offered an opportunity to reflect the diversity of Australian society by representing men, women and children, including migrants and Indigenous people.

The number of scenes that fulfilled one or more of these basic criteria far outnumbered the number of scenes required, but the list of scenes was eventually reduced to eight, with the main criteria being that:

each scene had to provide maximum potential for fun, gameplay and interactive engagement;

and as a set, the scenes had to offer a diversity of themes, time periods, people and geographical locations.

The first set of eight scenes for the redeveloped Kspace therefore spans a broad range of geographical locations (each Australian state is represented), time periods (from prehistoric to recent), and themes (from natural history to industrial and rural). The scenes in combination also have a strong connection to the Museum’s collections and exhibitions, fit well with the education curriculum, and offer maximum opportunity for fun and engagement through interactive gameplay scenarios. In terms of diversity, the scenes offer the potential to portray men, women and children from diverse backgrounds including migrants and Indigenous Australians.

We’re confident the scenes will offer plenty of opportunities for fun and engagement, in a setting that will also allow reflection on particular aspects of Australian history. And, of course, because some of the fun of Kspace is that kids won’t know where they’re being transported to, we won’t be revealing all the scenes just yet, though you’ll get a few glimpses from future posts here …